by S. L. Walker
“I’m trying to get it up,” Eva said still wobbly.
“Move, okay! You’ve done enough. Grab a damn banana and I’ll order a pizza!” Raven pointed to the bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter. She was beyond annoyed and wasn’t sure when her dad or brother would be walking through that door. She needed to sober Eva up fast. Her pager buzzed. She stopped wiping the floor to see that it was Zara again. She made a note to call her back.
Eva chowed down on her banana while Raven got the rest of the spaghetti off the floor. She put the spaghetti pot in the sink and threw the dirty kitchen towel in the sink.
“So what the fuck is up with you and Professor Heart?” Raven came at Eva full force, stopping Eva from chewing.
“What?” Eva asked, caught off guard.
“Your mom said you were on punishment cus you been messin' around with Professor Heart. She said your little sister told her. Is she lying?” Raven got up in her face. Eva began to cry, exposing the chewed up banana in her mouth.
“I’m sorry, I was going to tell you guys but,” Eva sobbed.
“Oh my God! Eva!” Raven threw her hands up, walking out of the kitchen. Eva followed her still sobbing.
“Everything happened so fast,” Eva explained.
“He’s a teacher for fucks sake! It’s disgusting enough to even have a crush on him! And what kind of grown ass man messes around with a 15 year old!” Raven scolded.
“He likes me a lot, Vee. It’s not like that. It didn’t start out that way,” Eva tried to pull on Raven’s arm who couldn’t even look at her. Raven sat down on the couch with her head in her hands.
“Did you guys have sex?” Raven asked her, standing back up.
“What?” Eva looked shocked. The look Raven gave her made her feel like she was cheating on Raven or something.
“Did you have sex?!” Raven slapped the half- eaten banana out of Eva’s hand. She wanted to really slap her, and she just might if she said the wrong thing.
“No! I’m a virgin!” Eva sobbed some more. “Raven, you’re tripping! Everybody tripping! It’s not your damn business what I’m doing with any man!” Eva grew angry.
“Eva, he could get in serious trouble for seeing you! You don’t even know him!” Raven grabbed Eva by the shoulders.
“No, YOU don’t know him and neither does my mama! Why y’all judging us so much? Age ain’t nothing but a number!” Eva fought back, pulling away from Raven.
“It is when you’re 15 and he’s in his mid 20’s!” Raven grew angrier and irritable.
“I really like him, Vee! Please don’t tell my mom,” Eva pleaded with a puppy dog face and her bottom lip popped out. She wiped her tears and went to hug Raven.
“You’re drugged man,” Raven blocked her hug. She heard a car door close outside. “Shit, that might be my dad,” she pulled Eva by the arm and into the guest bathroom.
“I thought we were ordering pizza?” Eva asked, clearly still not all together.
“Take off your clothes and get in the shower.” Raven turned on the cold water in the shower. With no questions asked, Eva pulled off her boots and jeans, and then her sweater and mesh top and put it in one pile on the floor. Raven heard the front door close and so did Eva.
“Get in,” she pointed for Eva to get in the shower. Eva stepped in and immediately shrieked.
“It’s cold as shit!” Eva backed up to the back of the shower, so the water couldn’t get to her.
“Shhhhh! I know, we gotta get you sober!” Raven quietly yelled at her. She pushed Eva closer under the water and Eva shrieked again shivering.
“It’s cold, Vee!” Eva shouted. Raven rolled her eyes and turned the warm water on just a little to make it feel like pool water.
“That better?” Raven asked her.
“No!” She shivered.
“That you, Raven?” Her dad knocked on the bathroom door.
“Uh, yeah, hey dad!” Raven yelled through the door. She opened the door just enough for her to slide out without him seeing Eva. “Hey,” she came face to face with her dad. “That’s Eva, she isn’t feeling well,” Raven partially lied.
“You seen your brother?” He asked her.
“No, haven’t seen him all day. He hasn’t talked to me.”
“That makes the both of us,” he told her and walked away. She didn’t know what that meant exactly. She watched her dad walk into the kitchen and she went back into the bathroom.
“Eva, you good?” Raven closed the door behind her. She opened the curtain to see Eva leaning against the bathroom shower wall with her eyes closed and surprisingly standing. “Got damn it, Eva,” Raven slapped Eva on the face, startling her. Eva gasped and looked at Raven confused and then smiled.
“I love you so much, Raven,” Eva told her with her eyes half shut again.
“Come on, let’s get you in the bed,” Raven told her, shutting off the shower. She grabbed Eva’s naked body and threw a towel around her from the bathroom closet. Luckily Raven’s room was right across from the bathroom, so it would be an easy transition. She opened the bathroom door and peeked out before she grabbed Eva, holding her up from her waste. Eva was mumbling how much she loved Raven, dragging her feet. Raven quickly dragged her right into her room and shut the door. Raven’s pager went off again but she didn’t look at it. She locked her door behind her and sat Eva on the bed. She moaned and passed right out.
“Oh, man,” Raven looked at Eva who looked lifeless in the towel. She shuffled through her drawers and found some baggy grey sweats and an old grey sweater. She lightly slapped Eva’s face to wake her up and helped her get dressed.
Knock Knock Knock.
Her dad tapped on her door. Raven rolled her eyes as she watched Eva sloppily put one arm into each sleeve of her sweater.
“I’m going out to get pizza,” he said through the door.
“Okay!” Raven said, helping position Eva more onto her pillows and covering her with a small throw blanket.
“Can you get these clothes out of the middle of the bathroom?!” He yelled as he walked away. She knew her dad was irritated with her just as much as he was with Deon. When she heard the front door close she walked out her room and grabbed Eva’s clothes and shoes from the guest bathroom floor. She then grabbed the cordless house phone in her room and dialed Zara back.
“Hey, I been paging you all day,” Zara said as soon as she answered. “I thought something had happened.”
“I’m surprised you care,” Raven told her sarcastically, throwing Eva’s clothes in a corner.
“Look, you guys should come over tonight. I kinda have to talk to you all anyway. Molly’s making cookies and I don’t mean the regular kind,” Zara joked. Raven could tell she was trying to make peace. She looked at Eva who had drifted off to sleep.
“Aye, how do you know when a person comes down off coke?” Raven walked over to feel Eva’s pulse.
“What? Who’s doing coke? You did coke?!” Zara assumed.
“Psh, No! Do you know or not?” Raven asked her.
“Everyone is different, I don’t know. It kinda just has to come down on it’s own. Is everything okay, Raven?” Zara genuinely sounded concerned but Raven just wasn’t in the mood to explain it.
“Yeah, I’m just curious,” Raven told her.
“People aren’t just curious about coming down off coke,” Zara told her. It was more than obvious Raven wasn’t telling her something.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Raven told her preparing to get off the phone.
“Well, just come over tonight. All of you,” Zara urged her.
“I don’t know if that’ll be possible. I’ll see. Can’t make any promises, though. I gotta go. I’ll hit you up,” Raven told her and got off the phone, not even letting Zara say goodbye.
Zara looked at her phone confused before she hung up.
Raven walked over and sat down next to Eva, moving her long hair out of her face. Eva moved a little still in a deep sleep. Raven secretly admired Eva for
taking the line for Angel. She couldn’t help but feel guilty and a little bit of a coward for not doing it herself. She smiled at Eva who looked rested and safe but lost her smile when she thought about what Treach would have them doing next.
Was this just the beginning? If so, Raven wasn’t prepared at all.
VICTORIA
There was no way I wasn’t going to go shopping now that I didn’t have to steal anymore; on top of the fact that I promised my mother it’d never happen again. And this time, I didn’t hit up the regular mall stores or even the big chains. I road my bike all the way downtown to one of the popular outlet malls. I had barely went to this mall, only when my mom wanted to splurge and that was very rare. I parked my bike in front of a sports shoe store and caught a glimpse of myself in the window mirror. A young Caucasian lady in a slim red sweater dress, black knee-high boots, and matching red scarf walked by me and smirked. I noticed other people walking by in business attire, Gucci shoes, Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. I looked again in the shoe store window at my black puff coat, ripped jeans and baseball hat. I didn’t even look like I belonged here. I took my hat off and wrapped my hair in a ponytail bun, letting my bang hang to the side. I then took my puff coat off, only revealing my red jacket, which left me freezing. I took some pink lip gloss out of my red backpack purse and evenly placed it on my full caramel lips. I looked decent.
I left my hat and coat on my bike and began walking down the cold outside walkway of the outlets. I noticed the white lady with the red dress in the Chanel store. I walked in the store admiring the beautifully designed mirrored walkway and white marble floors. Everything was evenly spread out and color coordinated. It smelled of floral perfume and soft music played on the speakers.
“Hi, is there something I can help you with?” Said a thin Caucasian woman with way too much makeup on and head full of hairspray holding up her brown ponytail.
“No,” I smiled and kept walking through the store. The red dressed lady noticed me over a white blouse she was eyeing. I walked over to a long black thin dress with pleated sleeves. I touched the smooth fabric and imagined how light it probably felt on. I checked the price tag and nearly lost my breath.
$475.
I noticed the lady in the red dress watching me along with the clown faced sales clerk. I pretended I didn’t like the dress and moved on to other big priced dresses, running my fingers through the fabric and checking sizes. I finally strolled over to their accessory collection, eyeing the small handbags and silk scarves. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why this plain ass shit was so expensive.
“I’d like to try these in a 7 ½ please,” the red dressed lady told the clerk. She had some all-white ankle boots in her hand with a gold 6 inch heel to die for. I started to look at shoes, too, hoping there’d be something cheaper. The lady sat down on one of the leather chairs and took off her long black wool scarf. She flicked her blonde hair back and eyed the pieces of clothing in her hand. I started playing around with some sunglasses.
“That’s a cute red jacket you have on. What brand is that?” The red dress lady asked me. I looked over at her with a pair of the shades on. I looked down at my Jacket.
“Um. I think my mom got it at Macys,” I told her.
“DKNY maybe?” She got up to check out my jacket a little more. I was saved by the worker returning with her white boots.
“Here you go misses Thompson. I brought a 7 ½ out and an 8 for you,” she handed her the shoes.
“I’d like to purchase these,” I said to the clerk, walking up to the counter.
“Ah, excellent choice. These just came out a couple of weeks ago. Very popular,” she said, ringing up my sunglasses. I remembered I didn’t even check the price. “That’ll be $215 dollars and 77 cents,” she smiled. My jaws clinched. Do you know how much shit I could get with that much money? Not just a pair of shades.
I opened my purse careful not to reveal the wad of cash.
“Put it on my account,” I turned to see the red dress lady sashaying in the mirror with her white boots. They looked good on her.
“Oh of course, would you like me to box them or you are wearing them out today?” The clerk asked her, putting my glasses in a bag.
“No, I mean put her Chanel glasses on my account,” Misses Thompson glared at the clerk and then gave me a wink. “And yes, I will be taking these, too. What do you think?” She turned to me.
“They are nice, but you don’t have to do that,” I shook my head a little offended that she felt the need to floss her money that hard.
“Nonsense,” she waved me away taking her boots off. “You have style,” she smiled.
I turned to the clerk, “I got it.” I reached in, giving her $300 bills. I looked back at the red dressed lady who was sashaying back to her red bottoms. She gave me an impressed look.
“Sorry, I didn’t know,” she told me looking me up and down. My blood boiled.
“Here is your change and your shades and you have a wonderful day,” the clerk told me. I stuffed the cash back in my purse and grabbed my shopping bag.
“Now you know,” my neck rolled along with my eyes as I made my way out the door.
I looked back one more time at her, wondering how much she was spending in that store to have an account and that someday I’d have my own account, too.
I walked along the outlets, passing other designer stores and not so designer. I took my shades out and stuffed the bag in my purse. It wasn’t that sunny out, but I loved wearing new money. After all, the lady did say these were one of the hottest shades out. I stopped at a small food station and grabbed me a lemonade and popcorn before I headed into another store. A junior women’s store caught my eye. It was lit up with pinks and browns and had loud rave music playing. This was my kind of store. As soon as I walked in, I went straight towards a fur vest. Broke me would have scouted the place first, but I had money to burn. I grabbed my size and kept looking. Bedazzled jeans. I noticed a red sweater dress almost similar to what the lady in the Chanel store had on; $20. I grabbed a red dress and the same one in black. I went to town in that store coming out spending a good $300 on jeans, shirts, shoes and accessories. With an arm full of bags, lemonade and popcorn, I walked out the store straight into this guys chest. Lemonade and popcorn spilled everywhere.
“Shit!” My mouth dropped as I watched my lemonade drip all over his white polo and just missed khaki pants; my popcorn had hit the ground. I didn’t even look at his face, just the disaster I made. I quickly put my bags down next to the wall. “I’m so sorry sir!” I apologized.
“Sir? It’s okay it’s okay,” he laughed. To my surprise this sir didn’t look a year over me. I put my shades on the top of my head so I could see him better. His waves dipped like a rippling ocean in his hair, his chocolate skin looked like a delicious candy bar, he had long eyelashes and dark brown almond eyes, and his teeth were straighter than lines on a piece of paper. He was absolutely perfect. His polo shirt with popped collar, pants and classy shoes screamed prep school so he had to be from this side of town.
“Hello,” he waved his hand in front of my face. I didn’t realize how dazed I had been.
“Oh my God, let me buy you another shirt,” is all I could say. He laughed out loud.
“It’s okay, really. I can buy my own shirt,” he smiled.
“Guess, these shades are darker than I thought,” I blamed the new shades, but I was bragging a little, too. I took the shades off my head.
“Those are nice,” he said, wiping whatever he could off him with his hands. “I’m Lance,” he put his hand out for me to shake it.
“Victoria,” I shook his hand.
“You shopping?” He pointed to my bags I had sat down.
“Yeah, doing a little splurging,” I smiled, grabbing my bags. “You sure I can’t get you another shirt, it looks pretty bad.”
Lemonade took over the front of his shirt and his fly area. I tried not to look in that direction but he caught me. He blushed.
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br /> “How about this, I’ll get my own shirt, but you can make it up to me if you come with?” He asked me. Butterflies instantly entered my stomach. “That is, if you aren’t busy,” he added.
“No, no, I’m all for it,” I told him smiling from ear to ear.
“Alright, this way then, let me help you with those,” He pointed towards other outlets and took a few of my bags for me. I basked in his cologne that I caught a whiff of as I walked beside him.
“So, where you from?” He asked me.
“Where are YOU from?” I asked him back afraid, to tell him what part of town I lived in.
“Ohhhh, I see. I get it. You don’t know me like that, okay,” he smiled. “I live over by West Federal Hill with my mom, dad, and older brother.” The fresh smell of perfumes lingered from different stores as we walked by. Smells of hot dogs and churros also trailed at the small stands.
“Nice area,” I smiled. “How old is your brother?” I asked, changing the subject. I had to think quick about what story I wanted to make up to impress him. No way he’d talk to a girl from my side of town. He even spoke different from the boys at my school.
“He’s a senior. We both go to Federal Hill High School. Here,” he pointed at an Abercombie & Fitch store. Go figure. Pure cologne drifted in my nose; similar to the scent Lance was wearing. We walked over to the men section full of polo shirts.
“So?” He asked, shifting through the tees.
“So what?” I asked confused.
“So, where are you from? I’ve never seen you around before and a lot of the same girls shop this area,” he picked up a similar white polo to the one he had on and then glided to some belts.
“Oh, um, St. Charles. By the inner harbor,” I blurted out. I instantly felt guilty for lying.
“Oh really! I love the aquarium over there. No wonder you don’t come here much, there’s plenty of places to shop over there. Less bougie, too,” he winked at me. He picked up a smooth leather belt. It didn’t look like much; to me he could’ve just gotten one from Walmart. “You want anything?” He asked me, pointing to the girl section.